TyrrellThis surname is derived from a French Christian name, and the first of the family was Hugh Tyrel, who acquired lands at Castleknock in Dublin and in Fertullagh in Westmeath in the 1170s and 1180s. Hugh was probably the son of Rocelyn Tyrel of Herefordshire in England. Tyrrellspass, County Westmeath, takes its name from Captain Richard Tyrrell, one of the Irish commanders in O’Neill’s rebellion of the 1590s, and commemorates a famous victory by Tyrrell against the English there. Today Tyrrell is still very much a Leinster surname, and is especially strong in Kildare and Wicklow.